WH Smith and Burberry will keep the spotlight on the retail sector this week as investors get a further insight into the strength of consumer spending.

After a storming start to the year for luxury clothes and accessories group Burberry, some doubts have crept into the stock market recently.

Shares in the upmarket brand owner have retreated from an all-time high of £16 on worries that China, one of the engines of its recent sales surge, might be stalling due to the global economic uncertainty.

The 155 year-old group, famous for its trench coats and red, black and camel check, accelerated its store growth in the last year - mainly in China and emerging markets.

Burberry posted a 34 per cent sales increase in the three months to June to £367 million as retail sales jumped by 49 per cent.

Some 20 per cent of that retail improvement came from China, where the group has 57 stores. As well as China, new store openings have been focused on emerging markets including India, Brazil and Mexico and the Middle East.

In total, it now has 181 retail stores, 197 concessions in department stores, 45 outlet shops and 52 franchised stores.

Despite the concerns, brokers still expect strong figures in Wednesday’s trading update, which will cover sales in the three months and the half year to September.

Broker Credit Suisse notes that the firm’s peers have reported no discernible impact on sales from the economic uncertainty and EU sovereign debt concerns.

The Swiss broker expects half year sales of £831 million, a 30 per cent underlying improvement, with second quarter sales of £464 million.

Within that, retail is expected to grow by 47 per cent over the half, with a 9 per cent rise in wholesale and 5 per cent growth in licensing on an underlying basis.

While a further deterioration in global economic conditions could slow Burberry’s progress, Credit Suisse said there are still opportunities for further development in new areas such as men’s fashions, shoes and accessories and in emerging markets and relatively untapped countries such as the United States.

A trading update in August from WH Smith indicated it was bucking the gloom seen on other parts of the high street.

The stationery and books chain, which has more than 1,000 stores across the UK, said Thursday’s final results would meet market expectations for profits of about £93 million, compared to £89 million last year.

Analysts added that as the group does not normally issue a pre-finals trading update it must have wanted to demonstrate that its trading had not deteriorated in the current consumer squeeze.

Smith said both the travel business, which operates from more than 530 outlets at airports, train stations and motorway service areas, and the high street retail arm were delivering good performances.

It is expected to repeat that message, although like-for-like sales are expected to show a decline over the year.

Chief executive Kate Swann has focused the group on higher margin products and identified core areas such as news, magazines, books and stationery.

The plan has involved weeding out lower margin areas, such as CDs, which has had the effect of cutting sales but boosting profits.

Like-for-like revenues are expected to fall by 2 per cent in travel and by 4 per cent at the high street chain because of the strategy, but analysts hope this time it will also include some detail on future growth plans, especially an expansion of the travel arm overseas.

Jonathan Pritchard, an analyst at Oriel Securities, said WH Smith may add 250-300 stores outside the UK over the next three to five years, against 47 currently, with overseas railways stations, hospitals and shopping malls being explored as well as airports for possible locations.

He also believes the threat to the book and newspaper business from electronic readers and electronic books is overplayed.

Even if e-readers were to win 30% market share of the book market, and WH Smith was unable to win any business at all in downloads and devices, the maximum risk to forecasts would be 10 per cent, he estimates.

To underline its commitment to the high street, Smiths boosted its estate earlier this year with the acquisition of 22 stores from the administrator of British Bookshops and Stationers.

For the year to August 2012, current consensus forecasts are for an increase in profits to £98 million.

Mail order and online shopping group N Brown had a mixed message in its last update in July.

Sales were strong, with growth of 5.1 per cent in the 18 weeks to July 2, but getting people to buy became more expensive, with an increase in promotional activity cutting gross margins by 0.2 per cent.

The Manchester-based group, which owns the Simply Be, High & Mighty, Figleaves, Marisota and Jacamo brands, has also taken a step into multi-channel retailing to boost business.

The firm opened its first Simply Be store, in Liverpool, last month, with another just opened in Bury.

The Simply Be range is aimed at 30-40 year olds, younger than Brown’s traditional customer base, but still in the fuller figure or plus size range where Brown has traditionally specialised.

The new store in Liverpool has order points throughout that give access to the Simply Be website, although not other N Brown brands.

The store is near to Brown’s warehouses in the north and customers can order in store for home or store delivery and at home for store delivery.

Analysts say that for Brown the key is not sales density as much as the impact on brand sales, recruitment, frequency and returns in the area where the store is situated.

Further trial stores are planned next year for Doncaster, Merry Hill, Manchester Arndale and MetroCentre near Newcastle.

John Stevenson, an analyst at broker Peel Hunt, said the question was whether N Brown can create a sizeable multi-channel offer that accelerates brand sales and offers the opportunity to launch other branded stores or shop-in-shops such as Jacamo.

Last year the group also extended the international expansion of Simply Be into the US, following a launch in Germany in 2009. A progress update on the overseas growth is also expected next Tuesday with the interim figures.

House broker Royal Bank of Scotland forecasts interim profits of £47.8 million against £44.1 million. Consensus forecasts for the full year to the end of February are for profits of £102.7 million, up from £98.2 million and sales of £757 million, up 5 per cent.

A progress report on its attempt to acquire online gambling firm Sportingbet may top the agenda when bookmaker Ladbrokes gives a trading update on Thursday.

The bookie first made an approach to Sportingbet in June, but under takeover rules has until October 17 to make a firm offer or else walk away.

Having failed to conclude a deal with another online gambling group, 888, earlier in the year, management will be under pressure to seal something this time.

Analysts say the sticking point is likely to be Sportingbet’s Turkish operation, where discussions are under way for a sale to Gaming VC.

If that disposal goes through, analysts expect an offer from Ladbrokes to follow soon after.

Ladbrokes’ interest in Sportingbet is part of a strategy to move away from the traditional over-the-counter shop operation and to boost its presence in faster growing areas such as “in-play”, or live betting during a sports match, an area where Sportingbet specialises.

Chief executive Richard Glynn launched a revamp of the brand in February this year to reinvigorate the Ladbrokes name, which included investment in technology, especially mobile, as well as adjusting formats for games machines to suit local areas.

Machines revenue was strong in the first half of the year, with the gross win per terminal rising by 15 per cent per week to £821.

Stripping out the impact of the World Cup in 2010, first half net revenue rose by 2.8 per cent and operating profit by 16.9 per cent, but shares in the group have tumbled by 25 per cent due to fears abut the impact of the consumer squeeze on betting.

James Hollins, an analyst at broker Evolution, said betting was a resilient business and despite the consumer squeeze, he expects Ladbrokes to show continued resilience even though the third quarter faces strong comparative figures from favourable football results and a good July in 2010 from the World Cup.

For the full year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s estimates are for pre-tax profits of £147 million.

Online fashion retailer ASOS is likely to show slowing UK sales growth on Friday as its young customers are hit by the financial gloom.

The firm has been one of the darlings of the retail world in recent years, but its share price has slipped 40 per cent since July after being hit by the slump in financial markets and jitters caused by directors selling shares.

With youth unemployment at 20 per cent, 16 to 24 year olds have been clobbered by the economic downturn and have less money to spend on fashion.

That spells bad news for ASOS, which targets 16-34 year olds with clothes and accessories based on outfits first worn by celebrities.

But UK growth is still expected to come in at 5 per cent in the three months to the end of September, according to Matthew McEachran of Singer Capital Markets.

This would represent a sharp slowdown on the 15 per cent increase to £44.6 million in the previous quarter and the 24 per cent growth in the previous year.

ASOS has said its recent slower growth was in part down to it being cautious ahead of the opening of a new warehouse in Barnsley. It expects sales growth to recover to 20 per cent.

The group’s stellar growth overseas is also set to slow. When it last updated the market, international sales rose 160 per cent as it expanded its presence in markets such as Australia, China and India, while US sales were boosted after Michelle Obama wore one of its own-label dresses.

Mr McEachran expects sales growth to slow to 145 per cent in its second quarter.

He predicts in its full-year, to the end of March, sales will grow 59 per cent to £540 million and underlying profits will rise 43 per cent to £41 million.

The group has a target of £1 billion of group sales by 2015. It sells 50,000 product lines and attracts over 13 million website visitors a month as well as offering access to more than 50 other companies, such as Urban Outfitters, Reiss, Ted Baker and My-Wardrobe.com.